Release collars have a wide variety of applications. For example they have been used to retain weight plates on barbells, for tools such as retaining saw blades in place, hand held tools with removable chucks, telescoping devises such as drafting tables, beach umbrellas, etc, wheels on tables, toys and the like, etc. These collars may lock axially and radially on a bar, shaft, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,810 discloses a quick release collar for a weight lifting barbell. Specifically, it describes a release collar which includes a housing and an inner mechanism. The housing includes an inner body, an outer sleeve and an end release ring. The inner mechanism is comprised of three steel balls, a tension ring having a tapered inner diameter and a spring. The inner body includes three openings such that the three balls extend through the inner diameter of the inner body and are also adjacent the tapered tension ring. When the collar is placed around a shaft with the same size outer diameter as the collar's bore, the bearings lock by squeezing against the shaft and the tension ring. This locks the collar in place. The housing parts are spring loaded to facilitate placement and removal of the collar body on the shaft. To release the collar body, the inner body is pulled back through the inside of the outer sleeve, withdrawing the ball bearings out of the gap between the inner body and the shaft and thus release the collar's hold on the shaft. The spring forces the inner body back to the closed position.
Some of the other prior art release collars include the use of a grooved bar or shaft, a squared bar or shaft, set positions in the collar such that in which balls drop in to lock, thus requiring both a male and female interlocking pieces, etc.
Additionally there are some release collars which will lock both radially and axially, however these are not easy to use. For instance to prevent radial movement with one collar, one must use an allen wrench to tighten down a set screw onto a shaft. The set screw must be precisely locked onto the shaft. This locking procedure can involve some tricky manipulation. If the set screws are not properly set, the parts can fly off, jamming machines, cause injuries, etc.
Release collars are often used with devices/apparatus which require one to repeatedly place the release collars on a shaft and then remove the same. For instance the changing of the weight plates on the barbells, or bits in a hand-held tool such as a drill. Thus, the release collars must be easy to establish in place along the shaft and also fairly easy to remove. On the other hand, the release collars are often used with dangerous or heavy pieces of equipment such as weight plates, saws, drills, etc. and thus they must reliably maintain their position on the shaft.
A general objective of the present invention is to provide an improved quick release collar/fastener which locks both radially and axially thus preventing the collar from spinning off of a rotating or non-rotating shaft.
Another object of the invention is to provide a release collar that can be tighten down onto a threaded shaft and locked in place both axially and radially.
Still another objective of the invention is to provide a release collar that radially locks in one or both directions i.e. clockwise or counterclockwise.
Yet still another objective of the present invention is to provide a radial release collar to secure and adjust rollers on conveyors, automation assembly line, labeling machines, etc.
A companion objective of the present invention is to provide a release collar that will lock axially in two directions and also radially in both directions.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a release collar which locks radially and axially on a spinning shaft and is further releasable without the use of a tool to position the collar or dislodge or detach the collar.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a release collar that may be locked onto a threaded shaft and then released by releasing the collar mechanism.